Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-25

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

These two pictures illustrates the comparison of old cafe and a new caf after refurbishment, how it looked in past and how its attracting customers now with some additions in buiding and design.

Overall, the structure is same with some addions like sitting area and a new food variety of Barbecue. However design is pretty similar thats it seem to be in past.

Kitchen, toilets and recycling bins are on the same place as these were earlier while in contrast, serving area has been changed by hot meals and staff dining room has been changed into take away food and coffe bar.

Furthermore , there is an adittion of salad bar in the west side of building and there is a prominant adittion of sitting area including chairs and tabes along the southern wall odf building with two new doors central area for chair and tables remin same and there is increase in size of recycling bins size after redesining the cafe.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrast between the original café and its redesigned version, including the unchanged kitchen and toilets, the conversion of the staff dining rooms into takeaway and coffee areas, and the addition of outdoor seating. This gives the reader a relevant overview and addresses the task. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the recycling bins replaced the old bin in the same position, but the plan does not show that they increased in size. The barbecue is also mentioned only vaguely as a “food variety,” and the new southern doors could be described more precisely as access to the outdoor seating. Develop these key changes clearly and avoid claims not supported by the plans.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing changes. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “while in contrast,” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships between points. However, the progression is sometimes difficult to follow because several changes are crowded into one long final sentence, and the contrast between unchanged and altered features is not consistently organised. For example, the sentence beginning “Furthermore” moves from the salad bar to outdoor seating, then to the central tables and recycling-bin size. Grouping internal changes together and describing the outdoor additions separately would make the comparison clearer. Some references, such as “these” and “it,” also lack a precise antecedent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a redesign, including “refurbishment,” “serving area,” “take away food,” “salad bar,” and “southern wall.” This shows an adequate range for the task, and most of the intended meaning can be understood. However, several spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural phrases reduce clarity, including “caf,” “addions,” “prominant,” and “food variety of Barbecue.” “Sitting area” is understandable, but “outdoor seating area” is more precise for the feature shown. Take care to use established labels from the plan and check spelling; more accurate collocations would make the description sound clearer and more controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “while in contrast” and a clause describing the new seating. However, grammatical control is uneven, and errors sometimes make relationships between features hard to interpret. For example, “These two pictures illustrates” has subject–verb disagreement, while “Kitchen, toilets and recycling bins are on the same place as these were earlier” has problems with articles, prepositions, and reference. The final sentence also lacks clear sentence boundaries and contains a confusing construction around “two new doors.” Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, and complete sentence structures, and divide long descriptions into shorter sentences.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.